Annihilation Power

(You can check the beginning of the first chapter—I added a hint of my own there. I hope you can understand it. If this gets banned, you can still keep following.)

"How the fuck... is that possible?!"

The Evil Soul Master's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief.

How was this possible?!

How could a child who looked only eight or nine years old possess such tremendous strength?!

He was a dignified Soul Elder. His body had been tempered by soul power, and his strength far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Yet in this little brat's grip, his arm seemed welded in place, unable to move even the slightest bit.

In the instant he froze in shock, a faint blue-purple glow lit up on the back of Tang Wulin's left hand.

Countless strands of Blue Silver Grass, as thin as hairs, emerged from the pores at his fingertips. Centered around the forearm he was gripping, they rapidly spread upward like vines.

The Blue Silver Grass carried purple Destruction Power mixed with the Golden Dragon King's Annihilation Power. The moment it touched the Evil Soul Master's skin, it burrowed into his flesh like countless red-hot needles piercing his meridians and bones.

"Ah—!"

The Evil Soul Master let out a shrill scream, his voice twisting out of pitch.

A piercing pain surged from his arm. The destructive force clung to his bones like a festering disease, drilling through his meridians and into his skeleton.

He could clearly feel the muscles in his arm rapidly dying, his meridians snapping inch by inch, even his soul power becoming difficult to circulate.

If this continued, that destructive force would spread from his arm throughout his body. By then, he would truly be finished.

The Evil Soul Master was ruthless as well. No Evil Soul Master who had reached the Soul Elder level was indecisive.

A trace of resolve flashed through his eyes, and he did not hesitate in the slightest.

The bone blade in his other hand suddenly rose and viciously chopped down at his own shoulder joint.

Crack—!

The crisp sound of breaking bone was clearly audible, accompanied by the dull rip of tearing flesh.

He had actually severed his own arm with a single slash!

Blood sprayed from the stump of his shoulder like a fountain, splashing everywhere. Even Tang Wulin's clothes were speckled with blood.

The severed hand fell to the ground, its fingers still twitching nonstop. The Blue Silver Grass on it continued burrowing inward, quickly corroding the entire arm into a puddle of black water that emitted black smoke.

The Evil Soul Master's face instantly turned pale as paper. Veins bulged across his forehead, and his entire body trembled from the pain, cold sweat covering his brow.

Yet he did not even groan again. Using the force of severing his arm, his body abruptly drifted backward.

One white and two yellow soul rings lit up beneath his feet. The outer yellow, hundred-year soul ring instantly shone to its fullest.

"Third Soul Skill, Serpent Shadow Escape!"

His body turned illusory, like a blurred serpent's shadow, about to merge into the surrounding poison mist that had yet to disperse and conceal himself once more.

As long as he successfully escaped, he could hide in the shadows and slowly wear him down. Once this little brat succumbed to the poison and died, he could come out and collect the corpse.

Trying to run?

Tang Wulin's gaze sharpened.

The wound in his abdomen was still bleeding, poison spreading through his body. His head had begun to grow dizzy, and his soul power was nearly depleted. He could barely maintain even the Blue Silver Grass.

But he could not let the other man escape.

If this Evil Soul Master fled and made his way to the passenger cars behind them, those unarmed ordinary people would be the ones to suffer.

He drew a deep breath and poured the last trace of soul power in his body, along with the reserve strength hidden deep within the Golden Dragon King bloodline, into the Golden Sacred Dragon Spear in his right hand.

The spear instantly erupted with dazzling golden radiance. The dragon-scale patterns along its shaft seemed to come alive, unfolding layer upon layer as a deep dragon's hum rang out.

Tang Wulin drew his right leg half a step back, twisting his waist into a fully drawn bow. The muscles in his arm tensed to their limit, their contours even straining against his clothes.

"Go!"

He shouted and violently flung his arm forward.

The Golden Sacred Dragon Spear became a streak of golden light, shooting toward the direction of the fleeing Evil Soul Master with a sharp tearing whistle.

It was unimaginably fast. The spear tip sliced through the air with a piercing shriek, even cleaving a straight path through the poison mist around it.

The Evil Soul Master had only merged halfway into the poison mist when he heard the sound of something cutting through the air behind him, so sharp that the hairs on his body stood on end.

His heart jolted, and he instinctively twisted aside to evade it.

With the reaction speed of a Soul Elder, he should have been fully capable of dodging that spear.

But at the very moment he turned, he suddenly caught sight of the scene behind the boy from the corner of his eye.

A majestic phantom of a golden dragon slowly emerged behind the boy.

Its head was raised high, its dragon eyes cold and imposing. Golden clouds coiled around its body as an ultimate pressure from the depths of its bloodline instantly enveloped him.

It was the natural suppression of dragon bloodlines over serpent bloodlines, a fear carved into the depths of the soul that could not be resisted.

The Evil Soul Master's body abruptly stiffened, as though he had been struck by a paralysis spell.

In that instant of distraction, he missed his best chance to dodge.

Splat—

The Golden Sacred Dragon Spear precisely pierced through his chest.

The spear tip emerged from his back. Golden Dragon Power surged madly into his body through the wound like scorching magma, instantly crushing all of his meridians.

The Evil Soul Master's eyes flew wide open, his vertical pupils filled with terror and disbelief.

"Dragon..."

He muttered the word as mouthfuls of black blood poured from his lips and ran down his chin.

He could clearly feel his soul power and life force being madly drained away by this spear.

The spear shaft was like a bottomless pit, rapidly devouring everything he had.

The Golden Sacred Dragon Spear trembled slightly, letting out a satisfied low hum.

Like a greedy diner, it frantically absorbed the Evil Soul Master's soul power and life force. The glow from the spear grew ever brighter, and the dragon-scale patterns became increasingly distinct.

At the same time, a gentle yet abundant life energy flowed continuously back into Tang Wulin's body through the spiritual connection between him and the spear.

That energy flowed through his meridians, gently repairing his damaged channels and neutralizing the snake venom around his wound.

The wound in his abdomen healed at a visible rate. The bluish-black poison marks slowly faded, and even much of the blood he had lost was replenished.

The soul power he had just exhausted also recovered somewhat, barely supporting his unsteady body.

The Evil Soul Master's body shriveled at a visible rate. His skin rapidly turned gray, and beginning from the wound, he gradually transformed into fine ash.

His mouth hung open as though he still wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

A few seconds later, his body completely turned into fine gray-black ash. A gust of wind blew through the carriage and scattered it clean away.

The two bone blades and all those snakes turned to ash as well, vanishing without a trace.

Only the steaming pool of blood on the ground and the severed arm remained, proving that he had once existed.

The crisis was over.

The tension in Tang Wulin's nerves instantly loosened.

An intense wave of dizziness surged into his head, and the world before his eyes began to spin.

The battle had seemed brief, but it had drained all of his soul power and spiritual strength.

Although the wound in his abdomen had been mostly repaired by life energy, the exhaustion of his body and the lingering snake venom were all too real.

And that final strike had completely drained his last bit of spiritual strength.

He swayed, his vision repeatedly darkening, his steps floating as if he were walking on cotton.

The remaining small snakes beneath his feet lost their master's control and instantly lost all vitality. One after another, they stiffened in place, quickly shriveling and blackening before turning into puddles of black water.

The carriage was a complete mess.

Bloodstains, snake corpses, shattered glass, and a lingering stench of decay covered the place, making it seem like a living hell.

With the last shred of his consciousness, Tang Wulin staggered two steps forward, intending to pull the Golden Sacred Dragon Spear from the carriage wall.

But his legs gave out, his knees buckled, and he could no longer hold on.

With a dull thud.

He fell straight down onto the cold metal floor.